Is breastfeeding supposed to be painful?
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I still struggle 3m on… not necessarily with pain. But just being comfortable feeding. I feel like it takes me ages to get comfortable. And it’s a nightmare using my left side unless I’m lying down. I was okay when he was newborn. But as he’s got bigger I really struggle to feed him comfortably so I rarely go out 😵💫
So in the early days/ weeks there can be some pain from cluster feeding and nipples that aren’t used to the sensation but it shouldn’t be constant pain or toe curling kind of pain. Pain longer term or very extreme pain usually suggests an issue with a shallow latch. Has baby been assessed for oral ties by a professional? That’s a leading cause of shallow latch and therefore sore nipples. It can take a while to get the perfect latch, you’re both learning a new skill! Trying different positions to see what works best for you both can help massively with this. Do you use nipple cream/ silverettes between feeds? Nipple cream saved my life in the early days!
Yep I use nipple balm and silver guards. The first few days were so painful I had to stop breastfeeding because my nipples were bleeding and cracked. Now my little one gets very impatient when I try to breastfeed probably because he’s used to bottles being easier. So I don’t know if it’s a latch issue or a supply issue. I do know I don’t make much milk at the moment so I’m pumping to try get it up. He doesn’t seem to have tongue tie
I’d get baby assessed for tongue tie asap - cracked bleeding nipples are sign of a very poor latch and babies with ties struggle to latch. Tongue tie isn’t always visible/ obvious to the untrained eye. It’s more about the movement/ restriction of the tongue than a visible ‘tie’. Are you pace feeding the bottles and using a slow flow teat? Pace feeding is very important to be able to switch baby back to the breast. You need to pump every time baby feeds in order to build and maintain your milk supply which can be really hard going especially if you don’t have much help with baby. I’d 100% see a tongue tie specialist to rule that out first x
A feeding expert did assess him for tongue tie and doesn’t think that’s the issue seeing the movement of his tongue and his ability to latch. We do paced feeding with the formula and only use extra slow flow teats so it takes a long time for him to get through each feed. He just still gets upset every time he goes on the breast after a minute, I reckon because the flow and supply isn’t sufficient.
The best thing you can do for low supply is skin to skin and latch latch latch. A pump is nowhere near as efficient as a baby. The more skin to skin you do with baby the more they’ll latch. Try when they’re not starving hungry and they’ll be more patient. How much milk are you giving in each bottle? It should be no more than 4oz x
Oh yes it’s less, it’s about 2.5 oz per bottle. I’ll focus on the latch then and try to get him to feed as much as possible from me. I have heard they’re more effective at getting milk than pumping it’s just hard to know if he’s fed sufficiently. I guess I make sure he does the right number of poos and pees
As long as baby is having lots of wet nappies and gaining weight nicely they’re getting enough 😊 best of luck! x
Girl I almost quit week 4 it was SO painful... it felt like a knife getting stuck in my nip then twisted around the entire time he was feeding.... However, it wasn't as bad when I pumped. So I tried different holds and nipple shields while figuring things out. Nipple shields helped tremendously with the pain - I used them off and on for almost two weeks (don't have to now). We are now almost 8 weeks in and it's so so much better. Realized baby wasn't opening his mouth wide enough, so he was nipple feeding, not breast feeding. He does great on the left side now, but I have to lightly pull his little chin down so he opens wide enough to latch on the right side. As he's gotten older, it has gotten better! Don't give up!!